josh wilson pics

Sunday was an amazingly great day at NewPointe. We continued the UnTypical series by looking at what we can learn about untypical courage from Benaiah...but not before Josh Wilson took the stage to do some of his music (including the 3 Minute Song). He's amazing.

Here's a pic I took of him during the pre-service run-through:

After the services we headed to our favorite place to hang out with Christian recording artists like Josh Wilson and Worth Dying For...Daryl and Lee Ann Miller's. Per usual, Lee Ann put out a ridiculous spread. Here's Josh enjoying some of Teddy's famous nachos.

And this is becoming a tradition: Guitar Hero with our guest artists. Here's Josh checking out Natalie vs. Joey.

And here's Josh whoopin' on Big Dan (this, of course, will prompt Dan to leave a comment on my blog)

Later in the day we had an awesome tailgate party (before Josh's concert). And Josh jumped right in, mixing it up with everyone who came. Here's Josh playing catch with the Monkey Boy:

And the highlight of Natalie's day may have been getting to play "pickle" with Josh.

The concert was off-the-hook. Amazing. Afterwards Josh stuck around to meet everyone and sign autographs. He's just a great guy.

And after all that...we headed back to the parking lot for more tailgating...wings, ribs, you name it. Dwight indulged...

As did Josh...and Danny...and Dan...and...

Great day. Great fun. Great ministry. I love NewPointe.

cross one (and thirteen) off the list

Last week I wrote about three things that I have never done. You can read about it here.

Well, cross one off the list. Yesterday the fam and I actually went to Cedar Point! Unbelievable day!

As most of you know, Cedar Point is generally considered one of the best amusement parks in the world and it currently holds the world record for having the most roller coasters (17).

We (meaning mainly my 12-year-old daughter Natalie and I) rode 13 of the 17 (not bad for a day's work). Here's the list of the ones we rode...from worst to first:

13. Cedar Creek Mine Ride. Yawn. Even if there's no line for it (and there wasn't), skip it.

12. Iron Dragon. Looks fun...but that's about it. Hanging coaster that just doesn't go fast enough. Maybe at a lesser theme park it would seem like more of a thrill but at CP, it just doesn't measure up.

11. Corkscrew. Just okay. The kids, even the 9-year-olds, like it. They rode it three times...no line...that's an indicator of how good (or not good) a coaster is.

10. Disaster Transport. Indoor coaster. First one we rode. Kinda fun...but the line was a bit too long for what it delivered. But we had to ride it, of course, to cross it off our list.

9. Gemini. This was probably the big kahuna back in the day. Nowadays, it's just another throw-back wooden coaster. When you ride, prepare for whiplash (and a back-crack). Ouch.

8. Blue Streak. Small wooden coaster built in 1964. More fun than I expected.

7. Mantis. Stand-up coaster. Good ride. At any park other than CP, this would probably be one of the main attractions. At CP, it's just one of many good ones. Lots of loops. Made me a little queasy (partly because we'd already been riding coasters for several hours).

6. Raptor. Suspended (hanging) coaster. Recently voted the 11th best steel coaster in the world.

5. Magnum XL-200. Another great coaster (72 mph). At one time, it was the tallest, fastest coaster in the world (by a long way). Again, at most parks, this would be the tops. Great ride. No line. Rode back-to-back without waiting. Amazing.

4. Wicked Twister. Second ride of the day for us. Amazing...and kinda scary (but aren't those the best kind?). It's the world's tallest, fastest double-twisting impulse coaster. Wicked good.

3. Millennium Force. If you've ridden it, you might be saying, "What...#3?" See, the Millennium Force is often ranked as the world's absolute best coaster. And it is awesome. 93 mph. 310 feet high. Simply amazing.

2. Maverick. Brand new. Opened less than a month ago. Waited 52 minutes to ride. AND MAN, WAS IT WORTH THE WAIT! Its 95 degree drop is one of the steepest drops on any roller coaster. It boasts eight “airtime” hills (where riders experience weightlessness), and an absolutely unreal second launch halfway through the ride. If you go to CP, don't miss this one.

1. Top Thrill Dragster. There was some debate in our family over the top three. Most agreed that they could all be interchangeable. Since it's my blog, I have the final say. This ride lasts less than 30 seconds but, YIKES, WHAT A CRAZY 30 SECONDS! Zero to 120 mph in FOUR SECONDS!



Unbelievable day. Cross one off the list.

married life live! update

We had a MLL production meeting today. You guys, it's going to be a blast! I can hardly wait. Here are a few things to whet your appetite:

• My main man Kevin is going to speak. He shared some of his content with me today. STRONG!
• Dave D will be co-hosting the event with yours truly. That'll be fun.
• Danny and the band are working on some music that is guaranteed to make u wanna dance! :)
• You can expect to see several movie stars live (yes live--in person) at MLL.
• The food's going to be crazy-good. It's a sit down meal designed to be enjoyed thoroughly by you and your date.
• Everyone who comes will have an opportunity to win fabulous prizes!

The stats show us that there are less than 100 seats available (out of 480). If you don't have a ticket yet, you can buy online right here. This Sunday will be your final opportunity to buy at church. Online ticket sales end Monday.

DO NOT miss it!

i didn't want to like it

I tried hard not to like it...but I liked it.

What am I talking about? The movie Facing the Giants.

I didn't even really want to see it. I've had friends recommend it to me. Chad even blogged about it. I wasn't interested because of the hype...because a church made the movie (I was very skeptical of the quality)...and mainly because it is a "Christian" movie. And really, "Christian" movies just usually aren't very good.

So as I began watching it, I was looking for reasons to not like it. I was being super-critical of the acting (which, honestly, is not so hot) and the dialogue (which is pretty weak at times). But the story ended up sucking me in. Some, no--a lot of the football scenes were not realistic--and I HATE that...but I couldn't help but liking this movie. Weird, huh? I'm so disappointed in myself for liking it!

Nothing about the film is exceptional...it's mainly just that it's a feel-good story. And I think non-Christians will probably find a bunch of reasons to not like (I don't think it's an outreach kind of flick--show me one that is--I think it's more of an encouragement/warm-fuzzy flick for believers). But bottom line, I liked it. And so did the fam.

i got saved!

A couple of nights ago, Jenny and I watched the movie Saved! Ordinarily, Saved! would not be at the top of my Netflix queue but I've always been curious about this one. Many Christians have bashed it saying that it's disrespectful, irreverent, and sacrilegious. So, naturally, I wanted to see it.

The movie is about a group of teenagers who attend a Christian high school. Each of the kids has issues (the main character gets pregnant after sleeping with her boyfriend because 'Jesus told her to,'...she did this because he thinks he's gay and she wanted to cure him from his gay-ness. Another kid who attends the school is a smoking, cussing, Jewish rebel. One character is stereotyped in the film as the holier-than-thou, goody-two-shoed, judgmental Christian. The school's principal is a pastor whose marriage is on the rocks and ends up having an affair with the pregnant girl's mom...I could go on). I know what you're thinking...John, why in the world would you watch this kind of junk? The short answer: I wanted to see what Hollywood is saying about Christianity...and I want to do my best to stay connected to culture. And I guess it was pretty much what I expected.

It's disappointing that Christianity gets such a bad rap. In the movie, the "Christians" are the villains and the rebellious kids end up being the heroes. The movie's goal, in my opinion, was to make Christians look like foolish hypocrites. Sadly, the 'bad kids' displayed more of the true essence of Christianity than the 'Christian' kids did.

So why the stereotyping by Hollywood? I think it's because we, as Christians, have made it easy for them to do it. I think there are many Christians, including myself sometimes, who are hypocritical, judgmental, and unloving. And it makes me sad. I'm sad that we haven't done a good enough job of being Christ-like to the world. What we've done is we've settled for the off-brand: Christian-like-ness instead of the real thing: Christ-like-ness. When we're Christian-like, we settle in to our own little Christian "clubs" and do our own little Christian things. And we tell the world that if you're not like us, if you don't agree with us, if you don't worship like us, if you don't talk like us, if you don't know the Christian lingo, if you don't know our songs, if you don't dress like us, then to hell with you. Yeah, I just said that. Because that's what we say to the world sometimes because we're so dang exclusive.

Here, let me break it down some more for you:

It's unfortunate that our culture is so turned off by the word Christian. And we've done it to ourselves because we haven't loved the way that Jesus loves. We haven't sacrificed the Jesus sacrificed. We haven't been generous the way Jesus is generous. Heck, most the time we don't even care. We just assume that someone else will feed the hungry, care for the sick, comfort the hurting.

The word Christian literally means little Christ. What if we, as Christians, got serious about that? What if we decided to "bring Christian back?"

Know what I think could happen? I think we could rock Hollywood with the love of Jesus Christ. I think we could rock the world with the love of Jesus Christ!

Saved? Not a very good movie. But it fired me up. And it makes me wonder if the ones who really need saved are those of us who call ourselves Christians.

married life live! is coming

Chances are, if you're a NewPointe attender, you've already heard mention of Married Live LIVE! It's something brand new coming your way April 28.

If you haven't heard anything about it yet, here's the scoop:

Four times a year we design a totally new event for you and your spouse to be with other couples for a night out. Think of it as a date night--NewPointe style. At MLL you'll experience incredible music, creative programming, and a message that's very relevant to your marriage. It's all specially designed to encourage and empower you as a couple.

Included in MLL is:

• A fabulous dinner (including mouth-watering desserts)


• Unbelievable live music


• Hilarious shenanigans and comedy


• An encouraging engaging message that will be very relevant to your marriage


• And a whole lot more!
  

You just gotta trust me on this one...you don't want to miss it.

At each one of the MLL events, we'll theme the entire night around one of our six marriage essentials:

• TRUST GOD:: If having a healthy marriage seems impossible, it's because it is. But we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants to make it possible. We believe the number one essential to having a healthy marriage is to allow God to control our lives. Our number one goal for your marriage is for you to TRUST GOD.


• HURRY HOME:: If you want a healthy marriage then your time together has to be a priority. For marriages to thrive, schedules must reflect the huge priority of home. In other words, cheat at work if you must, but do not cheat your marriage. In fact, we think it's extremely important for you to HURRY HOME.


• CULTIVATE COMMUNICATION:: Is there anything worse than feeling misunderstood? And maybe, there is just nothing better than feeling understood...being known. Good communication is paramount to a good marriage. We want you to have great communication with your spouse. So we think it's absolutely essential for you to CULTIVATE COMMUNICATION.


• NURTURE ROMANCE:: The power of romance, sex, and intimacy can be a marriage's biggest ally...or it's biggest enemy. We all want our spouses to remember that we have certain needs. Married Life Live believes the goal should be to remember first that our spouses have certain needs. We think it's the best way to NURTURE ROMANCE.


• CELEBRATE DIFFERENCES:: By God's design, men and women are very different. As couples we can use those differences to complement and serve each other or they can be used to drive us apart. A lot of times we try to change our spouses in the name of love. MLL thinks a better option is to love our spouses even if they never change. We think it's crucial for couples to seek to understand and accept each other's differences. So we think married couples should CELEBRATE DIFFERENCES.


• FINISH TOGETHER:: More and more people are putting divorce on the table as an option. One essential thing every healthy marriage needs is security. People need to know that together as a couple, they can work out anything. MLL wants couples to FINISH TOGETHER.

So, does all this sound like something your marriage could benefit from? You bet! Here's the deal: tickets for Married Life LIVE! go on sale THIS SUNDAY in the bookstore at NewPointe (you can also buy tickets online beginning next week). The cost is $30 per couple.

At this very first MLL event we'll nail the TRUST GOD essential for you. The theme is "A Night at the Movies." Dress is casual but the event will be first-class.

It all starts on Saturday, April 28. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Dinner is served at 6. Oh my goodness...you DO NOT want to miss this. Hey, here's a great idea: bring your neighbors! Make it a double date. Invest and invite! MLL is an event you can be proud to bring people to.

Oh yeah, one more thing...seating is, in fact limited. We only have room for about 250 couples so buy your tickets early to make sure you have a spot.

amazing grace

A few posts ago I told you that I'd soon be blogging about the movie Jenny and I went to see a couple weekends ago: Amazing Grace. Jenny and I both gave it the "thumbs up."

It was one of those rare movies that inspires. Maybe it wouldn't inspire everyone. Perhaps some would find it simply very educational, if anything. It impacted me.

For those of you who don't already know, William Wilberforce was a member of the British Parliament and was the key leader of the parliamentary campaign against the slave trade.

The movie documented his struggle against the 'good ol' boys' network, politics, and high society. The main thing I took from the film about Wilberforce was this: The dude persevered. He did not give up. He had passion and he wasn't willing to stand by and do nothing while knowing that fellow human beings were suffering. And he didn't just assume someone else would take care of it. He decided to do something about it.

Have you ever wondered what makes some men great? I have a theory about the key to greatness: Great men just get off their butts and make things happen. I don't know if William Wilberforce was exceptionally smart, or eloquent, or charismatic. I just think that he, like a lot of other men we would consider "great," just decided to get into the game and engage in a full-on assault against the slave trade.

I really think that the difference between a great man and a good man is that the great man just decides to do something.

We've all had that stirring within us to make a difference in the world--a divine restlessness that God has given us in attempt to awaken us from our sleepwalking on this earth. We've all been moved to the point of tears at some kind of human suffering in the world. Yet few of us act upon that stirring. Few of us do anything more than throw a few dollars at the problem and then pat ourselves on the back for being such a compassionate human being.

I think we all could be great. I know we all won't be. Why? Because most of us are just plain lazy. That or we're afraid. Fear paralyzes. I say we get over it and just go for it. I don't want to be the guy who could have made a difference in the world and just didn't have the courage or the gumption to act. I want to be a part of ending suffering in our world.

Is it too big of a task? Am I just talking pie-in-the-sky? Maybe. But so what? I can take that attitude and do nothing. Or I can act. I can actually do something about injustice. I want to be that guy. I want to rock the world with the power of compassion.

weekend date...part deux

Saturday morning after breakfast at the hotel we got up and went our separate ways for an hour or so. Jenny to Babies-R-Us and me to Sam's Club (I was looking for some trail mix...no luck...but most of all, I was determined NOT to spend an hour in Babies-R-Us thankyouverymuch).

Next was a stop at Penney's Outlet...always a must for Jenny if we're in the vicinity. And then finally to Easton for the remainder of our day.

Easton was a zoo. It was like Christmas time. It took us a good 15 minutes to find a place to park. Crazy. People everywhere. And this was just a typical February Saturday.

We visited more stores, including Nordstrom's. Hello. Jenny found a pair of jeans she liked. The price tag? $198. Which begs the question: WHO SPENDS $198 ON A PAIR OF JEANS!!! (by the way, she was able to find some much less expensive jeans...at Penney's Outlet...ThankyouJesus).

And guess where else we ended up shopping before we left Easton? The Container Store...again! Amazing. Simply amazing.

The good news: The Container Store is right next door to bd's mongolian barbeque which happens to be one of our favorite restaurants ever. If you've never been there, visit their website...it's a really interesting concept: Create your own stir-fry. You start at the raw meat bar (shrimp, lamb, tenderloin, pork, chicken, crayfish, scallops, you name it), followed by the veggie bar...and then last is the sauces and spices bar. I usually go Cajun. I like my food spicy. Then you take your creation to a giant grill and let the stir-fryers take it from there. Fun and filling! We try to hit bd's whenever we're in C-bus.

We headed home shortly after bd's...with one more stop in mind...DQ. Jenny got a Blizzard, I enjoyed a caramel Moo-Latte. Yeah...we ate good on our trip. Partly because we knew we were starting a 40-day Daniel fast on Tuesday. It's like we had a giant Fat Tuesday party all weekend long.

Thus endeth our trip to Easton.

my weekend date with my wife to easton

This past weekend Jenny and I got to go on an "extended date." We left the kids with some friends and headed to Easton for two whole days to ourselves. That was huge for us as a couple. Our complete focus for the two days was each other.

Here's a quick rundown of the weekend:

Left around 11 a.m. on Friday. Deliberately went through Millersburg so we could stop at Norman's for some creamsticks. Holy cow. We planned on eating well on this getaway and that's exactly what we did. I wish Norman's was closer, but at the same time I'm glad it's not (know what I mean?).

Arrived at Easton Town Centre around 1:30. Did you know that Easton is now America's largest shopping complex? Amazing. Our first stop: a store called "The Container Store." Guess what they sell? Yup...nothing but...containers. Apparently I thought I was funner than they did when I walked in and asked, "Do y'all have any containers here?" I crack myself up...Jenny just rolls her eyes.

I got a couple cool things for my office there. Jenny was looking for something very specific for the kids' bathroom...and she found it. But I think we spent waaaay too much time in a store that sells nothing but...containers.

From there we just kinda drifted through Easton, popping into various shops and boutiques. The one I landed in the longest amount of time for was The Discovery Channel Store. Very fun. I like books, toys, and science...and this store had lots of all three. While I was in there, Jenny ventured over to The Children's Place. I'm probably giving way too many details here (yawn)...so I'll get to the good stuff...

Before long our thoughts turned to where are we going to eat? We decided that because there are so many good places to eat at Easton, why limit ourselves to just one? So...we decided to restaurant hop--you know eat an appetizer at one place, soup at another, and so on.

We began our quest at The Cheesecake Factory. We ordered an appetizer called "Buffalo Blasts." Amazing. And filling. We were stuffed...certainly in no condition to head directly to the next restaurant, so we decided to see a movie.

The AMC theater there has 30 screens. It's huge. So many choices. And we had no clue about what to see. A dude with a spiked mohawk overheard us talking about Ghost Rider (you know the one with Nicholas Cage's head on fire), and he advised us not to see it. I think he repeated the phrase "It sucks" at least a dozen times. Good enough for me. We still couldn't decide. So Jenny began asking other couples who where buying tickets at automated kiosks what they were going to see. "Reno 911" was one reply. "Pan's Labyrinth" was another. Someone actually recommended Ghost Rider...confused now, but had already ruled it out. Another person advised us not to see The Pursuit of Happyness...but if you read my blog, you know I've already seen that one...

We settled, after much debate, on Amazing Grace. It was opening night. Hadn't heard much about it but the story intrigued us. Bought the tickets. Bought popcorn. Entered the theather. It was almost full. We found two pretty good seats...and as it turned out, the show was sold out, as was the other theater that was also showing Amazing Grace.

There's something about a full theater that makes the movie more enjoyable, in my opinion. There's more energy, more emotion, more laughter, etc. I'm going to write a separate blog about the movie because I thought it was great. I loved it. The folks in our theater actually broke out in applause at the end. Very unusual for a movie. More on that on another day.

After the flick we made our way to The Ocean Club. The Ocean Club is a Cameron Mitchell joint. If you're from Columbus, like we are, then you know all about Cameron Mitchell restaurants. They're all phenomenal. I actually met Cameron once, when I was working for the Columbus Dispatch. Back to the restaurant...It was Friday night...and it was packed...of course. I asked the host if we could just sit at the bar and order calamari (The Ocean Club's is the best). And that's what we did. And it was incredible. While enjoying our calamari at the bar, someone near us had baked Alaska delivered to their table. It got our attention. So we went for it. Neither one of us had ever had baked Alaska...whew! Too good! We'll be doing that again. We had planned, sorta, to head back to the Cheesecake Factory for, well...cheesecake afer the calamari...but the baked Alaska was callin' our names. Great experience. Great restaurant.

Afterwards we spent some more time shopping, Eddie Bauer, the Buckeye Corner, etc. and then headed for the hotel.

And that was our Friday. I'll give you Saturday's events tomorrow. Sleep well...and dream of baked Alaska.

the pursuit of happyness

Jenny and I went on a date last night. We don't get many date nights so when we have a chance to be sans kids, we always enjoy it. The only problem was: we didn't know what to do with ourselves. When we lived in Columbus we always had plenty of options (for both dining and entertainment). Now that we live in Sugarcreek, there just aren't as many options. We only had a few hours so a trip to Cleveland, Columbus, or even Canton really wasn't an option. So, as we drove toward New Philly, we kept throwing out ideas...the best ones (the only ones) included dinner or--are you ready--dinner and a movie. Yep. Just before we got to the mall, we had pretty much settled on dinner at the Pro's Table. Then, while at the stop light at the mall, we spontaneously decided to go see a movie (even though I was in the wrong lane). So I whipped the minivan to the right and we headed for the theater. We figured we had about three hours together and so, if we played it right, we could see a movie and then grab a bite afterwards (rather than going to dinner, finishing at 8:30 and then wonder what we'd do till 10:00).

Now the question was: Which movie? There were several good options but we settled on The Pursuit of Happyness. For several reasons: 1. we like Will Smith, 2. it's based on a true story, and 3. we'd heard from others that it was good. And it was.

I'm tellin' ya, I'm puttin' this flick in my top-ten all-time favorites right now. It was strong. I love a movie that makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me think, inspires me, motivates me, and this one did all that...and it flat wore me out. If you've seen it, you know what I mean when I say it wore me out.

I loved it. Will Smith was incredible. His son in the movie was played by his real-life son. Very cool. Unbelievable story. I don't know how much it was embellished but boy, did it make for a great movie.

Go see it (I'd imagine it'll be at the cheap theaters soon--there weren't very many people watching it with us last night...I think it's been out for a while)...you'll be glad you did.

And, oh yeah, Jenny and I did make it to dinner after the movie. At at Gavin's (formerly Fly Boys). It was good to. :)

this post is brought to you by...

By the title of this post, you might think that I'm going to bash television...telling you that you should stay away, and that, afterall, good Christians shouldn't be spending so much time in front of the boob tube. We'll it's not like that. I like TV. I grew up during the golden age of TV. I mean, good grief, TV dinners were common in my household.

But it really is amazing how prevalent TV is in our lives. TVs are everywhere. We are a media-crazed, information-addicted society. I have four TVs in my house (and a computer with high-speed internet...and a portable DVD player for the car). It's amazing how addicted we all are to media.

I like TV. I LOVE to watch sports on TV. I love to watch movies. Jenny and I watch about two movies from Netflix a week. But as much as I like TV, believe it or not, I don't have a single TV show that I watch regularly (except for when it's American Idol season--our family rarely misses an episode). I have shows I like (Dog The Bounty Hunter, Glenn Beck, American Chopper, Parental Control, to name a few), but I don't watch any one show faithfully (again, with the exeption of American Idol with the family). But I watch TV almost every single day. So what am I watching? Absolutely everything. I can watch eight shows at once due to my skillful handling of the remote control. Are you at all like me? Chances are if you're a guy, you are. Women tend not to flip through channels the way guys do. Man, I just sit down and start flippin'. I'm not really as interested in what's on as I am in what else is on. Drives Jenny crazy sometimes.

Why am I like this? I'm not sure. But I think it stems from one source: commercials. I just flat-out hate commercials. Can't stand 'em. Durning American Idol, it seems as though there are as many commercials as there are contestants. During an NFL game it goes like this: Touchdown-commercials-kickoff-commericals-three plays, timeout-commericals-punt-commericals-touchdown-more commercials. Good grief. And as if that's not enough, they add more commercials during the game (tonight on FOX, a dark secret has kept one man in hiding for more than a decade, tune in tonight...), or today's game is brought to you by...(yeah, caught that, they all had commercials less than 30 seconds ago!).

So, my mission in life is this: to avoid commericals. If a commerical comes on, click...next channel...check back...still on commerical...click...click...click...

I do the same thing in my car. Radio seems to be getting worse and worse with commericals. If one comes on, I'm gone to the next station. Problem is: it seems they all do commercials at the same time! I have literally scanned then entire radio dial at times and found nothing but commercials!

Thank God for the remote control. Click.

my 2007 movie watching list

Yesterday I blogged about my 2007 reading list. Afterwards the thought occurred to me: I'll probably spend more time watching movies in 2007 than I do reading (sad, I know). My wife, Jenny, and I really enjoy watching movies together. That's how we relax and unwind together. We don't have any TV shows that we watch regularly (except American Idol now that the new season has started--but that's the ONLY one--seriously). So when we put the kids to bed, a couple nights per week we'll head to the basement and watch a flick together on the big screen. It's a lot of fun for us. But it got me to thinking...you know how we'll create reading lists (like I did for '07)...well nobody really does a "watching" list--like here are the movies I'm going to watch in 2007. I know, it seems silly to do so, but it's fun to think about: "These are the movies I want to make sure I watch in 2007." Nobody does that. But then I got to thinking...I guess I really DO do that. See, Jenny and I subscribe to Netflix...we get our movies through the mail. We love it, by the way. As many movies as we want (three at a time), and we can keep them as long as we want--all for like $17.99 a month. So with that in mind, here's a partial list of my 2007 "watching" list (movies in my Netflix queue as of right now):

• One Night With The King (I thought I'd start with the "spiritual" stuff)
• North Counrty (No, I haven't seen it yet)
• A Time To Kill (No, I haven't seen that one yet either...I hear it's good)
• The World's Fastest Indian (Hey, I'm a motorcycle guy, what can I say?)
• Tristan & Isolde (Yeah, I'm kinda a sucker for a good chick-flick)
• Saved! (I'm curious)
• Snakes On A Plane (I'm weird that way)
• The Illusionist
• Facing the Giants (because I get asked all the time if I've seen it yet)
• The Marine
• A Good Year
• Stranger Than Fiction
• The Prestige (I'm REALLY looking forward to this one)
• The Return
• Borat (I want to see what all the hype is about)
• Deja Vu (TOTALLY looks like my kinda flick--love Denzel--love thrillers)
• Dreamgirls
• Night At The Museum
• The Good Shepherd
• The Pursuit of Happyness (I've heard it's awesome).
• We Are Marshall (even though I'm so sick and tired of Matthew McConaughey)
  

At home right now, I have Lady in the Water. I'm looking forward to watching that (maybe tonight). I'm a huge M. Night Shyamalan fan (you know, Signs, Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense, The Village--I love that stuff). Recently Jenny and I watched Little Miss Sunshine. Decent. Not great but interesting...and laugh-out-loud funny at times (waaaay too many F-words, though).
Send me your movie recommendations. I'm always looking for stuff to add to my queue.

chick flicks i recommend

Okay guys, so every once in a while you gotta throw the Mrs. a bone by watching the occaisional chick flick (after all, you want her to watch movies like The Rundown and I Robot with you, right). It always scores more if you initiate the chick flick watching. So with that in mind, let me help you out...since you're gonna have to do this every once in a while to keep things kosher at home, here is my list of recommendations:

• Just Like Heaven
• A Walk to Remember
• Where the Heart Is
• A Lot Like Love
• Return to Me
• Pride and Prejudice (2006)
• Ever After

Yes, I actually enjoyed all of these. Almost cried durning a couple of them...almost.

yankee or rebel?

Here's a quick & fun online test to help you determine how much of a 'hick' you are (or aren't).

Yankee or a Rebel test, click here

Me? I scored a 57% Dixie...barely in Dixie. Surprised? Guess I've got a little bit of 'hick' in me. In fact, when I lived on the East Coast 15+ years ago, I was often accused of having a Southern accent. I always told the peole who said that, "Then you've never actually heard a true Southern accent." Of course, they all considered anyone who was from Cincinnati (my hometown) to be a hick (these are the same folks who call it "soda" rather than what it is...POP!).

gotta try this sometime

Have you seen this? Apparently there's a lot of fun to be had with Coke and Mentos...

What happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints? It's amazing and completely insane. Click here to see it.

So, can drinking a bunch of Diet Coke and then eating a bunch of Mentos hurt you? Click here to see what happened to a girl who tried it.

dud-vinci

Saw The Da Vinci Code movie today. Here's my take in a nutshell:

Very disappointing. I don't know if it was just over-hyped or what...but it just wasn't all that.My buddy felt the same way. In fact, he nodded off once or twice during the film. Maybe it's just as simple as this: the book is always better than the movie and it's way true in this case. Don't get me wrong, it didn't totally suck, it just wasn't that good. I'll be interested to get opinions from people who see the movie and did not read the book. Maybe their take will be different. The book was great, IMO. The movie was just all over the place. The movie felt like the book on speed. My buddy agreed with me when I told him that if I hadn't read the book, I think that I would have been totally lost and clueless in that movie. It just seemed to jump all over the place...and at times it seemed more like a lecture on grail theory and symbolism rather than a movie. It just didn't work for me. I didn't feel like I ever got to know the characters.I'd give it 5, maybe 6 stars out of 10.

more on dan brown (from his website)

Q: ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?

A: Yes. Interestingly, if you ask three people what it means to be Christian, you will get three different answers. Some feel being baptized is sufficient. Others feel you must accept the Bible as absolute historical fact. Still others require a belief that all those who do not accept Christ as their personal savior are doomed to hell. Faith is a continuum, and we each fall on that line where we may. By attempting to rigidly classify ethereal concepts like faith, we end up debating semantics to the point where we entirely miss the obvious--that is, that we are all trying to decipher life's big mysteries, and we're each following our own paths of enlightenment. I consider myself a student of many religions. The more I learn, the more questions I have. For me, the spiritual quest will be a life-long work in progress.

Here's the link: http://www.danbrown.com/novels/davinci_code/faqs.html

Here's another link to an interesting USA Today article about Mr. Brown and his "Code": http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-05-14-da-vinci-welborn_x.htm

the skinny on dan brown

At Sugarcreek Free Methodist Church, we've been in a weekend message series about The Da Vinci Code. We've been looking at some of the claims the book makes, comaring them to Biblical teaching as well as historical records. It's been very interesting and fun. I'm giving the next talk (May 20, 21). It's about the Bible.

In researching material for this weekend's message, I listened to an hour-long interview with the author of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, yesterday. He's an interesting guy. Very thoughtful...a deep thinker as you might imagine. Here are a couple interesting things I learned about him.

He claims to be a Christian...although he never spoke of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, or life change or anything along those lines. He says he grew up with a dad who was a math teacher and a mom who was a church organist. He says he always felt conflicted when it comes to science vs. the Bible because of this interesting dynamic in his life. He comments that as a young boy, trying to decide which way to believe, he chose to land on the side of science rather than biblical teaching because it just made more sense to him. He also says that as he's grown and learned, he's decided that science and religion actually compliment each other and should be viewed as partners in a person's faith.

He reinforced the fact that the book is a novel. He thinks religious leaders have made way too much out of all of this (although I'm sure he welcomes it--it helped him sell over 50 million books). He says he doesn't pay much attention to the press and has not looked at a single book that "refutes" or "rebuts" his book.

I also found this very interesting: here's a guy who just got paid $6 million for the movie rights to Da Vinci, he's sold over 50 million copies of the book...in other words, he could live anywhere, do anything, etc...and he chooses to live in New Hampshire...and he says he's in front of his keyboard by 4 a.m. each day (he feels like if he's not there by then he misses the most productive part of his day)...and he's working on the sequel to The Da Vinci Code. You've got to admire/respect that kind of dedication.

He keeps an hourglass on his desk and takes a break every half hour to do push-ups, sit-ups, and hang upside down (he says it helps the blood get to his head and helps him with new ideas--a fresh perspective).

He claims to write an average of ten pages for every one page that actually makes it into a book.
He's thrilled with the way the movie turned out. He says it reminds him of what the whole movie theater experience used to be about--he says that when he was a kid, movies took him to places he'd never been, they challenged him, they moved him, they scared him, they inspired him...he says this movie is just like that.

He thinks its great that the book has generated so much talk about faith and has caused people to investigate the claims of Christianity and the Bible. Of course, it helped him sell a whole bunch of books. But I got the impression that he's sincere when he says this.

The movie opens this Friday. And, yes, I plan to go see it. I've read the book. It was interesting, and fun. I expect the movie to be the same. The key for me is that I approached the book as it ought to be approached--as fiction. If one approaches it otherwise, it certain could confuse a person. That's why we've done the message series at SFMC--to help people understand the real truth. If your small group is interested in studying The Da Vinci Code, shoot me an email. We've got some cool DVD curriculum that I'm sure your group would enjoy.

american idol shocker

Unbelievable that Elliot and Katharine beat out Chris.

I've thought all along that Chris would probably win the whole thing. How in the world did the others get more vote than him? I'm stunned. I don't think the show will be nearly as good with him gone. Oh well...guess I should have voted.

Here's one theory I've come across as to why Chris got the axe: Chris was a victim of "Tamyra Gray Syndrome": he was so obviously good that people didn't think they needed to expend the energy to vote for him. Sometimes a singer's fans will only mobilize when they feel their favorite is in jeopardy.

Taylor has been a favorite of mine from the beginning. He's just fun. He's not the best singer, clearly, but he's memorable. I think he'll win it with Chris now out of the way. Katharine is exceptionally talented vocally but her performances tend to fall a little on the boring side. To me, nothing she does is remarkable, it's just very good. I've never understood the judges' fascination with Elliott. He's just okay. Nothing remarkable there either. But week after week, the judges gush all over his performances. Go figure.

dog: the bounty hunter

Have you seen this show?

This show is wild...and it's A&E's highest-rated show ever.

And, I have to admit, I like the show. It's kinda like watching a train wreck...you just can't turn away. It's predictable--same thing happens every week...chase the bad guys, cuss at the bad guys, threaten them, catch them, buckle them with seatbelts into your wife's minivan, give them a lecture on life and all the lessons you've learned, get emotional and sentimental with them, give them a hug, turn them over to the authorities.

It's must-see TV!

Here's a bit of a paradox that seems to happen every week on the show: red-neck, cig-smokin', mullet-boy Dog circles his team up for prayer before a hunt. They pray for safety, success, etc. in Jesus' name and then they go and cuss people out. Dog claims to be a born-again Christian. It's...well, let's just say...it's very interesting.

And how 'bout Dog's wife, Beth. I'm guessing that we all know someone like Beth... You know, she thinks she's hot but she's really just...well...large? Got the long fingernails going, lots of makeup, tight clothes, bleached hair, etc. Cracks me up.

I wonder if someday I will hear or read about the Dog getting shot and killed. I have always thought the same about The Croc Hunter, too.

I read an article recently where Dog was asked what he'd be doing if he wasn't a bounty hunter (which, by the way, he says is his "destiny").

His answer? Robbing banks.